Hydraulic dredging mechanism



Nov. '13; 1928. 1,691,686

L. VORHIES HYDRAULIC DREDGING MECHANISM Filed April 28, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Leroy I/oriues Nov. 13, 1928.

L. VORHIES HYDRAULIC DREDGING MECHANISM Filed April 28, 192

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Lero Varhzes' @461 041 ATTORNFV Nov. 13; 1928.6 1,691,686

L. VORHIES HYDRAULI C DREDGI NG MECHANI SM Filed April 28, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR I l 7A Leroy Var/lies an 9 Z 12; L9 ad 60;

/9 ATTORNEY I Nov. 13, 1928.

L. VORHIES HYDRAULIC DREDGING MECHANISM Filed April 28, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ler'ay Var/we: WdQWW ATTORN EY ing said frame;to mountpumpsin said frame I Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

"UNITED STATES 1,661,686 PATEN OFFICE.

LEROY VORHIES, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

HYDRAULIC DREDGING MECHANISM.

Application filed. April 28, 1927. Serial No. 187,861,

ing frame carrying a ground engaging mem-- ber; to provide means forlowering and liftso that said pumps will work under water andtherebyrequire no priming; to dispose said pumps so that the center of gravityof the dredging mechanism will below; to provide means to dislodge sandfrom crevices while adjacent to the ground engaging memher and toprovide means to wash sand from betweenthe impellerof the sand pump andthe bottom of the pump. Other objects will appear as the descriptionprogresses.

In Patent Number 1,597,580 and in a co- -pending application filedSeptember 11, 1926, Serial Number 134,869, hydraulic dredges aredescribed provided with swinging beams carrying ground engaging membersworking in conjunction with centrifugal pumps mounted on the boats. Inthe present invention I use a swinging frame carrying a ground engagingmember provided with two water channels in addition to a sand channel,and mount the pump directly on the ground engaging member so as to keepthe pump under water and'also add weight to the ground engaging memberto keep it in working engagement with the ground. A. water pump isprovided to cooperate with the water channels in the ground engagingmember to dislodge sand from crevices and to wash sand fromv between theimpeller andthe bottom of the sand pump so as to reduce the abrasiveeffect the sand would otherwise have on the pump. This disposition'ofthe pumps locates the center of gravity considerably lower than in theinventions above mentioned.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a boat with my dredgingmechanism mounted thereon; Fig. 2, a fragmentary side elevation of thelower portion of the dredging mechanism, drawn to an enlarged scale;Fig. 3, a plan view of Fig. 2; Fig. l an end elevation of 2; Fig. 5, asectional plan view of Fig. 4, on the line AA; Fig. 6, a plan View ofthe ground engaging member; Fig. 7 a vertical cross section of Fig. 6,on the line BB; Fig, 8, an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross sectionelevation through the center of the pumps; Fig. 9, a sectional plan viewof the sand pumps, on the line C O in'Fig. 8; Fig.

10, a sectional plan viewof the water pump on the line DD in Fig. 8;Fig. 11, a fragmentary side elevation showing the lifting means; 1

Fig. 12, asectional planview of Fig. 11, on the line E -E; Fig. 13, aside elevation ofFig. 11, beam 1 being partly broken away to show thedrum 70 and frictional wheel Fig. 14 a fragmentary elevation showingdifierent positions of the friction disc 59; Fig. [15, a view of theunder side of the impeller of the sandpu mp to show the grooves 81, andFig.

(1}6, a sectional view of Fig. 15, on the line G. j

Although I show the preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 do notthereby limit myself to the precise form shown, but wish it understoodthat within the scope of what hereinafter is claimed, various changes inthe details of construction may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention.

A boat 1 is provided with a frame worklike that shown in my copendingapplication and comprises vertical standards 16 mounted onlongitudinally disposed beams 16 and braced by beams 18, said standardssupporting a transversely disposed beam 17 .carrying journals 20. r 1

An open sleeve 2 is rotatably mounted on a journal 20.. A frame,comprising beams 3 l connected by cross beams 5,. 6 and 7, is slidablymounted in sleeve 2 by disposing beam 3 within said sleeve.

A hollow ground engaging member A is secured to the-lower end of saidframe by bolts 86. This member A is provided with a sand channel 8 andwater channels 910..

Water channel Sis provided with an intake port 11 and a taperingdischarge 12 and water channel 10 has an intake port 13and a discharge14:. Both water channels are open above. 7 v

A centrifugal sand pump B is mounted on the ground engaging member A andsecured to the beams 3- 16 by bolts 84. The sand pump B is provided witha sandintake 19 in communication with sand channel 8 of thegroundengaging member, two sand outlets 2021, two water ntake ports 2223 incommun cation with water channels 9 and 10,

respectively, in member' A, and two remov able linings 2 l25. A sandconduit 26 is connected to outlet 20and a sand conduit 27, connected tooutle't21/ These two .sand conduits areconnected to a main sand conduit28 which communicates with a riflle box 31 via a flexible conduit 29 andconduit 30;

A centrifugal water pump'C, having an intake 32 and two outlets 33-34,is disposed a common shaft. The motor may be geared to the shaft ifdesired but it is advanta eous to operate the pumps with a single shaft.A horizontally disposed frame 43 is secured to beams 34 and supportsbearings 4445; A shaft 46 is journalled in bearings 4445 and inwormgear-housing 47 which is mounted on angle bar 48 supported by block 49on cross beam 7. A worm gear 50 is rigidly mounted on shaft 46 andmeshed With a worm 51 mounted on shaft 52 which is journalled in housing47 and bearing 52?. A yoke 53 is mounted on shaft 52 and carries a shaft54 journall ed inbearings 55-56. A bevel gear 57 is rigidly mounted onshaft 52 and meshed with a bevel gear 58 rigidly mounted on shaft54. Afriction disc 59 is rigidly mounted on'shaft 54. A spring 61 is hookedto a lug- 62 on yoke 53 and connected to worm gear housing 47 A cable 63is attached to lug 62 andpasses over-a'sheave 64 to the boat. A cable 65is attached to lug 66 and passes under 'a sheave 67 to the boat.

A sheave 39 is mounted on an extension 40 on the upper end of sleeve 2and a sheave 41, on an'extension 42 on the lower end of sleeve 2. Acable 69 is attached to extension 69* and passes over sheave 39 to drum7 O on shaft Y 46. A cable 75 is attached to extension 71' and passesunder sheave 41 to drum 70.

1 The lifting mechanism is thrown into gear by pulling cable 65 whichswings yoke 53 downward thereby bringing disc 59 into engagement withfriction wheel 60 as indicated bythedotted position 59 in Fig. 14. Theaction of friction wheel upon disc 59 revolves it clock-wise andactuates shaft carrying bevel gear 58. Bevel gear 58 actuates bevel gear57 on shaft 52 and Worm 51 act'uates worm gear 50 on shaft 46 whichcarries drum 70. The drum'70 therefore revolves clockwise and winds upcable 75 and unwinds cable 69. This action of the drum and cables lowersthe slidable frame until the proper depth is reached when cable 63 ispulled. and the disc 59 released from contact with friction wheel 60.The spring 61 now holds yoke 53 in the neutral position shown r in Figs.11, 12 and 13. The slidably mounted frame and sleeve are now swung foreand aft of the boat by operating the-cables 76 and 79.

These cables are operated by any suitable means such as motor actuatedwinding drums which are not shown for the reason that the actuatingmechanism and drums are not claimed in this application. This swingingmotion causes the ground engaging member A to plow back and forth in theriver bed and the sand pump sucks the loosened sand through the grid 83in the ground engaging member and into the sand channel8, thence throughthe intake 19 into the pump from thence it is forced out through outlets20 and 21 into conduits 26 and 27. From the conduits 26 and 27 the sandtravels-through main conduit 28, flexible conduit 29 and conduit 30 intothe riflie box 31'. The sand runs over the riifle in the riflie box andthe minerals are deposited in said riflie box. After recover-V ing thegoldor other mineral by this process,

the sand may be conveyed to reservoirs for further treatment or may bereturned to the river. The. water pump takes water in at the intake 32and discharges through outlets 33 and 34 into conduits 35 and 36respectively. Conduits 35 and 36 convey the water through inlets 11 and13 to Water channels 9 and 10 in the ground engaging member A fromwhence it is discharged through'taper-ed discharges 12 and 14,respectively. The

rater discharges with considerable force and dislodges sand and gravelfrom crevices which would otherwise not be disturbed by the action ofthe ground engaging member 7 I A. Since the upper ends of Water channels9 and 10 are open, water escapes through ports 22- and 23 into the sandpump B and washes out the space between the im eller and the bottom ofthe pump so that san will not accumulate and abraid the surfaces. The

grooves 81 in the impeller conform in coni tour to the impeller blades82 and the centrifugal force, due tothe whirling of the impeller,carries the water through grooves 81 to the periphery of the impeller.

" To raise the slidably mounted frame, the

cable 63 is pulled which swings'yoke 53 upward, bringing disc 59 intoengagement with friction wheel 60 as indicated by the dotted position59".in Fig. 14. This reverses the action described for lowering theframe.

The drum 7O revolves anti-clockwise and winds up cable 69 attached'toextension 69 and unwinds cable 75, thereby elevating the frame.

I claim: I

1. In a. hydraulic dredge, the combination with a. boat provided with aframe carrying a horizontally disposed journal, of av verticallydisposed open sleeve rotatably mounted on said journal; aframe slidablymounted in said sleeve; a ground engaging member mounted on a lower endof said slidably mounted frame and a transversely disposed shaft,carrying a winding drum and a"worm gear, journalled in said slidablymounted frame; a yoke mounted on'said horizontally disposed shaft; abevel gear mounted on said horizontally disposed shaft; a shaft,carrying a friction disc on one end and a bevel gear on the opposite endmeshed with the bevel gear on said horizontally disposed shaft,journalled in said yoke; a friction wheel mounted on said actuatingshaft and adapted to operate said friction disc, operatcables for saidyoke; an extension, carrying a sheave, on the upper end of said sleeve;a cable attached to the lower end of said slidable frame and passingover said sheave to said winding drum; an extension, carrying a sheave,on the lower end of said sleeve, and a cable attached to the upper endof said slid-ably mounted frame and running uncer said last named sheaveto said drum.

2. In a hydraulic dredge, the combination with a boat provided with aframe carrying a horizontally disposed journal, of a vertically disposedopen sleeve rotatably mounted on said journal; a frame slidably mountedin said sleeve; a ground engaging member mounted on the lower end ofsaid slidably mounted frame, said ground cngagingmeinher being providedwith a sand channel and two water channels, the water channels beingopen at the tops, each water channel being provided with an intake atthe side and a tapered discharge at the bottom and a horizontallydisposed centrifugal sand pump mounted on said ground engaging memberand provided with two outlets.

3. In a hydraulic dredge, the combination with a boat provided with aframe carrying a horizontally disposed journal, of a vertically disposedopensleeve rota ably mounted on said journal; aframe slidably mounted insaid sleeve; ground engaging member mounted on the lower end of saidslidably mounted frame, said ground engaging meniher being provided witha sand channel and two water channels, the water channels being open atthetops, each water channel being provided with an intake at the sideand a tapered discharge at the bottom; a sand pump, having two sandoutlets and two Water intake ports, mounted on said groundengagingmember so that said water intake ports are in communication with saidwater channels in said ground engaging member and the sand intake ofsaid pump is in communication with the sand channel of said groundengaging member; a vertically disposed main conduit mounted in saidslidably mounted frame; a communicating conduit between said mainconduitand each of the sand outlets of said sand pump; a flexibleconduit in communication with said main conduit; adischarge conduit incommunication with said flexible conduit and a riffle box; ahorizontally disposed water pump, mounted in said slidable frame abovesaid sand pump and provided with two water outlets each in communicationwith one of the water channelsin said ground engaging member and acommon actuating shaft for said pumps; a motor mounted in said slidablymounted frame and connected to said actuating shaft.

4. In a. hydraulic dredge',the combination with a boat provided with aframe carrying a horizontally disposed ournal, of a vertically disposedopen sleeve rotatably. mounted on said journal; a frame slidably mountedin said sleeve; a ground engaging member mounted on the lower, end ofsaid slidably mounted frame, said ground engaging member being providedwith a sand channel and two water channels, the water channels beingopen at the tops, each water channel being provided with an intake atthe side and a ta'aered discharge at the bottom; a sand pump, having twosand outlets and two water intake ports, mounted on said ground engagingmember so that said water intake ports are in communication with saidwater channels in said ground engaging member and the sand intake ofsaidpump is in communication with the sand channel of said ground engagingmember and apair of removable linings, 24r-25, mounted in said sandpump.

5. In a hydraulic dredge, the combination with a boat provided with aframe carrying a horizontally disposed journal, of a vertically disposedopen sleeve rotatably mounted on said journal; a frame slidably mountedin said sleeve; aground engaging member mounted on the lower end of saidslidably mounted frame, said ground engaging mem her being provided witha sand channel and,

two water channels, the water channels being open at the tops, eachWater chann-elbeing provided with an intake at the side and a tapereddischarge at the bottom; asand pump, having two sand outlets and twowater intake ports, mounted on said ground engaging member so that saidwater intake ports are in communication with said water channels in saidground engaging member and the sand intake of said pump is incommunication with the sand channel of said ground engaging member; apair of removable linings, 2425, mounted insaid sand pump; ahorizontally disposed water pump, mounted in said slidable frame abovesaid sand pump and provided with two water outlets each incoimnunication' with one of the Water channels in said ground engagingmember and a common actuating shaft for said pumps; a motor mounted insaid slidably mounted frame and connected to said actuating shaft.

LEROY voanrns,

